Dozens of D.C. police officers who were fired were let back on the force, according to a report from the D.C. auditor.
According to the review, the alleged bad cops have collected millions in backpay from taxpayers over the past five years.
“The bottom line is that we’ve had people in law enforcement in the District who the average Joe in the street would probably not want to be carrying a gun on his or her behalf,” auditor Kathy Patterson said.
The new report shines a spotlight on a bunch of accused bad cops who still have their badges and sounds the alarm over how officers are disciplined in the District.
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“The vast majority of those who chiefs of police attempt to fire do come back on the job,” Patterson said.
According to the report released Thursday, over the past five-and-a-half years, 37 officers who were fired for various reasons were reinstated and received backpay. Fifteen of those officers were still employed by the Metropolitan Police Department as of last month.
“And as a $14 million price tag to the District government in backpay,” Patterson said.
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According to the review, two of the officers failed to make an arrest under domestic violence statutes, one officer was terminated three times and one was found guilty of simple assault.
“If someone has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, I’m not sure we want them on the force, even if that never went to trial,” Patterson said.
According to the report, the majority of the officers were reinstated after a long arbitration process where third-party reviewers ruled the punishment was too severe. The average time for that was eight years.
“Sometimes police, the department, missed deadlines,” Patterson said. “Sloppy work on the department’s behalf.”
The D.C. police union pushed back Thursday, calling the report biased and “anti-police,” saying, “What the union finds in most of these cases is that MPD alleges misconduct against a member but provides no evidence to support the allegation and terminates the member anyway.”
The D.C. Council already has taken steps to change the disciplinary process, removing the third-party reviewers, which the union challenged in court. The auditor’s report recommends the Council makes it law.
“Make sure you’re clear, that you understand that this means any termination cases objected to will go to the office of employee appeals and make sure they have adequate funding to handle them,” Patterson said.
